On the edge of an art scene in the Napa Valley.

November 27, 2013

There are many reasons to be thankful living in the Napa Valley. Just one of them is the abundance of unique small businesses owned and operated by creative locals. Recently I was given the compliment of being a "good gift-giver" (blush). Well it's easy to find very special things if you avoid the chain stores and seek out the plethora of handmade or vintage treasures to be found in the Napa Valley.

A couple of things not to miss if you want to find truly beautiful artful gifts is the White Barn Winter Fair on December 6-8th. Some of my favorite finds have come from here, and this year I plan to buy myself one of those Magic Carpet Yoga Mats.

By the way, Small Business Saturday is November 30th, and I encourage you all to take the Pledge to Shop Small. As our economy slowly recovers, its of the upmost importance to support our independent, locally owned businesses. Here's a list of places where I'll be "investing" this season.

September 25, 2013

Finding a home isn’t an easy task. Even if your well-connected, well-behaved, and well… creative.

For the past 2 months I have been relying on the kind hearts of my friends and colleagues while looking for a roof to put over my head. Among many of the things I have learned include the following:

What you think you need – you don’t really need. Living out of a duffle bag isn’t luxurious but it can be more than sufficient.

The things that you miss are the things most meaningful to you.

It times of trouble, it’s somewhat humiliating to cash in your favors, but you should learn to receive help graciously.

Standards are arbitrary.

Home is more of a feeling than a place.

Ironically (or perhaps purposely) I recently went to see an inspiring exhibition at the Bedford Gallery called Home: Shelter and Habitat in Contemporary Art (on view through November 17th). Curated by the talented Carrie Lederer, the show touched on many complex ideas of space, place, and home.

Much of the work will strike different emotional cords for each viewer. For me, Gina Tuzzi’s mixed media sculptures of trucks piled high with tiny houses take me back to summers spent in the back of the camper shell while my parents drove up and down the California coast looking for the perfect campsite. I treasured the time alone to invent realities alternative to my steadfast suburban neighborhood.

Napa artist Stephen Whisler takes center stage in the show with his piece “Play House”. His pine box house-on-wheels is more about the transience of childhood and the scars left behind by traumatic change.

Being an obsessive observer, I also related to photographs by Todd Hido and Ari Salomon. Hido shoots foggy portraits of glowing houses at night. The voyeur element is infectious but the perspective leaves you feeling lonely and strangely jealous. While Ari’s interior shots give you an intimate look at the environment of a beloved aunt. Her belongings neatly categorized and stacked in her Paris apartment reveal her in way the artist could never express in words.

Other artists such as Elizabeth Cayne and Lee Materazzi address the fusion of person and possessions. Cayne greeted visitors to the gallery as the “Femme Maison” symbolizing our tendency to blur our sense of self with the things we own, while Materazzi used her new abode in San Francisco as a stage for self-discovery.

This exhibition is packed to the ceiling with clever concepts of safety, shelter, society, and self. I recommend spending at least a few hours taking in all of the superior work by more artists like Hannah Chalews, Lisa Solomon, Sasha Petrenko, Henry Wessel, Julie Alvarado, Megan Gorham, Eirik Johnson, and many others.

August 24, 2013

Having been a Napa local for over a decade now, I’ve had countless conversations around, “What does Napa need?” “How can it renew itself?” I always thought Napa had soul… maybe it was dinged up a bit and needed polishing. I started this blog 4 years ago to look at the arts scene, which forever seemed to be on-the-verge. I didn’t know how, but I knew local artists would play a key role in Napa getting its groove back.

Recently the conversations have started with “Napa has changed so much!” In the last ten years, the last four years even, a shift in identity is happening and I still believe The Creatives are behind this shift.

Last night I walked down First Street, formerly blighted with nothing but empty windows, and I saw life! Couples and families strolling to dinner, lights on in retail shops, cars being valeted, music somewhere. I was stopping by to check out the new boutique opened by Indra Fortney called Boho Lifestyle. Defined as a Pop Up until the renovations of Napa's Town Center get underway, the shop is simple but incredibly stylish. Indra has been honing her Bohemian taste through a lifetime of travel, design, and photography. When I first moved to Napa, she owned La Vie Belle Interiors and had a client base that couldn’t resist her easy California modern aesthetic. When she moved to Finland with her husband, she was sorely missed but the chic Scandinavian homes she photographed and designed ultimately filled in her new European Boho style.

The shop is welcoming and refreshingly affordable! She has hand-picked every item with a conscious conviction to be green – organic cotton, recycled materials, environmentally aware vendors. Every item on the shelves and delicately displayed is a statement piece. And it also makes a statement about the new Napa.

Our town doesn’t have to sell out. It can shun the cookie-cutter strip malls and defend its personality because of its artistic nature. Indra’s shop is a great sign of things to come. I am imagining a downtown full of unique opportunities. A town that supports local craftspeople and artists and a population that supports its retailers. With more shops like The Grand Hand, The Beaded Nomad, Miyamo, The WestEnd, Roost, Poorhouse, Alice’s Vintage Market, Cake Plate, and Betty’s Girl, Napa is growing back its soul.

February 07, 2013

What do Mustard, Mud, and Music have in common? Yes, they all start with M... but they also all happen in Calistoga in March. Flourishing among the bright gold mustard flowers, the Calistoga Music Festival has evolved into a hipper, cooler music event for residents and tourists alike.

From 12-5pm on March 9, come stroll Calistoga's cute boutiques, explore the emerging art scene, and hear a variety of music (its not just jazz this year folks!) while sipping amazing regional wines.

At ECHO gallery we'll be hosting The Rebobs, a Napa based band who play dark and swingy gypsy jazz. Formed in early 2011 The group has performed at several venues including The Stork Club, The Uptown, The Retox Lounge and The Catalyst Club to name a few. Also Charbay Winery & Distillery will be there, mixing it up with their locally made vodka cocktails.

The $35 Ticket will include 10 tasting tickets, good for music, wine and food tastes. You can purchase tickets at the Calistoga Chamber webpage

Now on view at ECHO are the works of Maki Aizawa, Peter Hassen, Angela Willets, and Michelle Wilson in the exhibition "Proof of Some Existence". Their work explores identity, values, and the physical world. Read More...

January 20, 2013

Just wanted to give a shout out to the Slack Collective. This alternative art space in downtown Napa was partially the inspiration for ECHO gallery and they have jalready passed their one year anniversary. They've also just raised $3500 on Kickstarter for The Black and White Community Center which will become a much needed performance venue for the avant-garde. Slack Collective has already hosted many successful Open Mic and Movie Nights and regularly presents The Unwatchables-a comedy sketch group like no other.

October 01, 2012

After a decade of living in Napa Valley and hovering around the Open Studios tour since my early days at the Arts Council, I finally made it up to the top of the map! Up valley, as its known - and one of the richest artist enclaves in the region. I started just a few yards from my front porch at Calistoga Pottery, which has been around for 30 years! Sally and Jeff Manfredi are pottery legends, and there is so much to choose from in their cute cottage studio, I wanted to linger for hours.

But up the hill beckoned the studio of Charlie De Limur. It was a stunning (and exhilarating) ride up Diamond Mountain Rd to a house that he and Gretchen built a decade ago. The Tibetan flags seemed appropriate against the beautiful forest view. Charlie's paintings are the opposite of black holes - you get sucked into a vortex of color. Even if we hadn't just rented "What Dreams May Come" where Robin Williams wanders through a painted afterlife, I still would have imagined living inside Charlie's landscapes.

One last stop was all we had time for so we hit a double whammy studio, the Red Barn studio of Jennifer and Anne Garden - two sisters from the immensely talented Garden family in St. Helena. I had peeked in Jennifer's letterpress studio before, but I never understood the depth of her letterpress collection. Massive drawers of letters and shapes in numerous sizes. She had to admit that even she didn't know exactly what was in all those drawers. But she gave us a quick demo as the chickens ran in for a drink, and we headed upsatirs to visit Anne. Anne designs prints with Jennifer but she also has a beautiful line of pillows and T-shirts that she silkscreens on burlap and toile. It was heartening to see things lovingly made by hand and that they were keepin it "in the family."

I hope some of you got out to explore more Napa Valley studios. This annual event is a great tradition that grows stronger and more mature each year. Congrats artists and thank you for sharing! You can see more photos in my Upvalley Open Studios album at the right...

August 05, 2012

Something told me it was time to visit Slack Collective…..actually it was a Facebook reminder for an exhibition on view there through August 18 called The Five Senses. The Slack Collective Gallery is now featuring changing exhibitions in addition to open mic nights, films, improv and other community events. I snuck in for a peak at photos by David Anthony, mixed media by Joe Shea, and installations by Tim Kopra. I loved the way Kopra’s wonky chair whined at me when I entered “Who’s going to sit on me? No one ever wants to sit on me.” Across the room I noticed Anthony’s lovely black & white photos that recall some of my favorite works by Imogen Cunningham and Ruth Bernhard but in a more modern way.

And then Sheas richly textured paintings. Getting closer I recognized one of my favorite ingredients--coffee beans. Joe Shea incorporates them seamlessly, like an everyday medium. He adds colors, more texture and sometimes broken pieces of mugs and plates. I came to learn that Joe lived in Bolivia as a boy and never forgot the culture which somewhat centers on the production of the world‘s most popular pick-me-up. “Shea strives, among other aspects, to fuse the characteristically colorful soul of South American continent with the distinguished textural, sensual, and olfactory traits of the coffee bean.” I’d would say that he’s been very successful in creating a truly unique expression of both.

You can stop by and see the show next Wed, Thu, Fri at Slack Collective Gallery at 964 Pearl Street. Stick around on Aug 10 for the Open Mic night which is rapidly growing in fame beyond Napa.

Big props to Paul Slack for pulling all these cool artists together and supporting the alternative scene for many years. More images in the photo album "Slack Collective" at the right.

July 25, 2012

Hi everyone! Just wanted to let you know about 2 events this week at our new alternative art space in Calistoga called ECHO (Every Creative Hand Occupied). We need YOUR participation to activate and perpetuate this place. Hope to see you there:

June 29, 2012

After moving up valley a year ago, meeting my fabulous husband J Kirk, and joining the Arts Council Napa Valley Board...I am taking on a new challenge. A new pop-up exhibition space in Calistoga called ECHO-Every Creative Hand Occupied. J Kirk and I are opening the space with a show called "Bright Moments" and a party on July 6. You can help get this project off the ground with a Kickstart grant of $5, $10, $25, etc. Any amount will help.